Eric Sykes CBE (4 May 1923 – 4 July 2012) was an English radio, television and film writer, actor and director whose performing career spanned more than 50 years. He frequently wrote for and/or performed with many other leading comedy performers and writers of the period, including Tony Hancock, Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers, John Antrobus and Johnny Speight. Sykes first came to prominence through his many radio credits as a writer and actor in the 1950s, most notably through his collaboration on The Goon Show scripts. He became a TV star in his own right in the early 1960s when he appeared with Hattie Jacques in several popular BBC comedy television series. A trademark of Sykes's work is the idea of taking a single comic idea to its extremes.

Sykes was born in Oldham, Lancashire; his mother died during his birth. He was the second child of his parents' marriage; his older brother (by two years) was named Vernon. Sykes's father was a labourer in a cotton mill and a former army sergeant. When he was two, his father remarried and he gained a half-brother named John. Sykes was educated at Ward Street Central School in Oldham. He joined the Royal Air Force during World War II, qualifying as a wireless operator with the rank of Leading Aircraftman.

Sykes's entertainment career began during World War II while serving in a Special Liaison Unit, when he met and worked with then Flight Lieutenant Bill Fraser. When the war ended Sykes decided to try his luck in London, arriving in the middle of the coldest winter in living memory (1946-47). He rented lodgings, expecting to find work quickly, but by the end of the first week he was cold, hungry and penniless. The turning point in his life and career came on the Friday night of his first week in London: he had a chance meeting in the street with Bill Fraser, who was by now featuring in a comedy at the Playhouse Theatre. Fraser took the impoverished Sykes to the theatre, offered him food and drink, and then asked if Sykes would like to write for him. Sykes began providing scripts for both Fraser and Frankie Howerd and soon found himself in demand as a comedy writer. Forming a partnership with Sid Colin, he worked on the BBC radio ventriloquism show Educating Archie, which began in 1950, and also Variety Bandbox. His work on Educating Archie led to him meeting Hattie Jacques for the first time.

Sykes became partially deaf as an adult. His spectacles contained no lenses but were a bone-conducting hearing aid. Disciform macular degeneration, brought about by age and possibly smoking, left Sykes partially sighted, and he was registered as blind. He was a patron of the Macular Disease Society. He stopped smoking cigarettes in November 1966, but continued to smoke cigars. In 2002 he suffered a stroke and underwent heart bypass surgery.

He married Edith Eleanore Milbrandt on 14 February 1952 and they had three daughters, Catherine, Julie, Susan, and a son, David.

In the British New Year Honours List published on 31 December 2004, Sykes was awarded a CBE for services to drama, following a petition by MPs. Sykes was an honorary president of the Goon Show Preservation Society.

Sykes died on 4 July 2012 at age 89 after a short illness. His family was with him when he died.

View a video of Eric Sykes at Funeral Service: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUtuCZ4qA10